Timeline
by deathkid1313
Summary: Days of our past, makes up our present, shapes our future, and connects them together. A history of Mio and Ritsu. Basically just fluff, without plot.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, everyone! *WAVES*

Major exams are finally over! I am FREE! Well, got this story while I was doing my History paper. Never knew History served that purpose.

Anyways, enjoy~

Disclaimer...*sobs* K-ON! is not mine.

* * *

_Days of our past,_  
_Makes up our present,_  
_Shapes our future,_  
_And connects them together._

**Age 7**

"Tainaka Ritsu."

A hand raises, waving from left to right, "Hai!" A cheeky grin spreads across the young girl's face as she stares at the teacher who called her name. Unlike normal kids, Tainaka Ritsu was not afraid to speak up, even when it was her first day of school—she did not feel the need to be silent.

The teacher nods unapprovingly at the girl's enthusiasm. In her mind, the word 'trouble' forms when she saw the little brunette with her goofy grin. The girl wore a yellow headband, pulling her bangs backwards, revealing her wide forehead. Her brown hair fell to her shoulders and gave her a cute tomboyish look.

Ritsu slumps back in her seat as the teacher continues to take their attendance. She was very excited when she got up this morning, finally, she could meet other children who were of her own age. She teased her little brother for not being able to follow her to school. Satoshi was always cute when he cries.(1) Her mom prepared her lunchbox while her dad dropped her off at school. They offered to accompany Ritsu on her first day but she declined, stating that she was old enough to walk herself into school.

She sits through the opening ceremony with withering patience. Absentmindedly, she uses her tongue to wiggle the loose tooth in her mouth. By her own standards, the speech given by the headmaster was simply too long. All she heard was a jumble of words that all seemed to contain more than 3 syllables. The boredom soon frustrated her and forgetting her parents' advice—"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"—she starts to tap her feet, her head nodding along with the song that was playing in her head. She did not know how long she was lost in her own world, but a loud cough wakes her. Ritsu sees the headmaster frowning at her. Not only that, everyone in the hall is looking at her. She smiles sheepishly and scratches her head, then mouths, "So-rry."

A pair of eyes catches her attention—grey, like the dark clouds before a storm. Ritsu shifts her body to get a better view, but unfortunately, they disappeared. She squints her eyes again, trying to gain supervision, and undoubtedly failed. Even though she could not see the grey irises again, she remembers them and notes to herself to find that person.

-xxxx-

The teacher ushers them into class. Seats were arranged according to height, and as we all know, Ritsu will always take the front row seat due her short stature—the fact that she causes chaos is also a supporting factor. She yawns, not noticing any of her classmates. A boy sits down beside her, his hands trembling slightly. Amber eyes studies the boy, he looks a little like her brother, just taller by an inch. She opens her mouth and speaks, "You nervous?"

The boy fidgets and looks at Ritsu, "A little."

Ritsu leans forward and pats the boy on the arm, startling him. "It'll be fine."

Unknown to her, a pair of grey eyes watched her actions.

-xxxx-

"Please pass these papers to the back, each student takes one," the teacher says.

Ritsu was looking at the teacher, more specifically, her hair—her graying hair. She thinks to herself, the pretty eyes she saw today were slightly darker than her teacher's hair. She laughs at the comparison.

"Tainaka-san, is there something you'd like to share with the whole class?" the teacher raises her eyebrows, already familiar with the troublemaker's name.

The young girl grins and points at the older woman, "Your hair is very, very grey."

The class giggled. The teacher sighs, "I know. And sooner or later, yours will turn grey too, Tainaka-san. Now, hurry up and pass on those papers."

"Hai!" The brown-haired girl turns around and passes the papers.

And fate takes over. Her eyes met with grey.

Akiyama Mio looks uncertainly at the girl, "Um…" She was a bashful little kid, quiet and unnoticed. She woke up in the morning with a bad stomach, claiming she wasn't up for school. After some coaxing from her mother, she went unwillingly. She clutched her mother's hand tightly when entering the school, afraid of strangers. When all parents were asked to leave, tears threatened to fall. But she steels herself, with the request from her mother, and sits down quietly. She notices a petite girl with short brown hair in front of her, without a hint of uneasiness. She envied the girl.

Now, the girl stares at Mio with her amber eyes wide. Under scrutiny, Mio flushes. Ritsu yells out with glee, "Grey eyes!" Her sudden shout turns everyone's attention to their corner of the classroom.

"Ne, you know you have pretty eyes?" the child asks, her smile wider than ever. Engrossed in the raven-haired girl, she does not acknowledge the existence of others.

"Ooh! Your hair is pretty too. Shiny and straight." (2)

Mio panics. She struggles to form words and blood rushes up her face. Surrendering herself to her introverted side, she stares at her table, hoping the energetic girl would give up talking to her.

Ritsu frowns when the raven-haired girl did not response. Tainaka Ritsu never frowned, she was a bundle of joy and nothing…nothing dampens her spirit. Until now…

"Tainaka-san, please stop bugging Akiyama-san and just pass the papers." The teacher walked over to her table, arms crossed.

The girl obeys and did as she was told. But not before giving Mio a peace sign and a charming smile.

For the rest of the day, Ritsu ponders on about the cute girl sitting behind her, occasionally stealing a glance at her. She vows on her mother's desserts that she will befriend the shy girl, whatever means necessary. Mio hides behind her book, but is also curious about the lively girl who sits in front of her. She promised her mother she would make friends in school, perhaps this could be a start.

* * *

(1) Here is Ritsu displaying 'sadistic tendencies' at the age of 7...  
(2) I've seemed to make Ritsu a little ADHD, but it's Mio, so I hope I'll be forgiven...

So, should I continue? I am thinking about writing a series of Mitsu drabbles and placing them together in one story, opinions?

Reviews are appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Right...I don't know what to say so let's just get on with the story, shall we?

Wait...I don't own K-ON!

Enjoy~

* * *

_Days of our past,  
Makes up our present,  
Shapes our future,  
And connects them together._

**Age 7**

The mirror reflects a kid with soft brown hair. Eyes of amber bore into the reflection. Without her handy headband, the girl's bangs covered her forehead, reaching down to her eyebrows. A small nose and a happy face. Ritsu recognizes the girl in the mirror to be her, but something is wrong. She then opens her mouth and bares her teeth.

Ritsu almost topples over after seeing it. She steadies herself on the sink and steps up the stool again for a better look of herself. The gap between her teeth was still there. She narrows her eyes at the offending space between her teeth, but her humor soon took over, she laughs wholeheartedly at her ridiculous smile. She even imitates her grandpa who lost all his teeth since young. A 4 year old Satoshi walks towards the bathroom and stops to see his sister howling with laughter. Unable to comprehend his sister's amusement, he stares at his sister.

The brown-haired girl turns to see her little brother. She gives him a wide grin and points at her missing tooth. Satoshi gurgles a laughter.

Yesterday when Ritsu got home from her first day of school, she found her brother playing with her toy drum kit. It was a gift from her dad when she turned six—plastic drums that could fool a six year old. Ritsu rushed towards her brother, she usually shared all her toys with him, but the drums were special and she only allowed him to touch it with her permission.

Ritsu grabbed the drum sticks while Satoshi pulled with all the strength he could muster. Age was the winning factor, the boy could not hold his grip on the drum sticks. Ritsu fell back when Satoshi let go. Knocking her head on the hard floor, her loose tooth snapped from its original place in her upper jaw. Cries could be heard, but not from the girl.

Their mother took the sobbing Satoshi away from the toy drum kit while father dealt with her bleeding gum. It was a noisy afternoon in the Tainaka household, not an uncommon thing.

While her father was helping her to stop the bleed, she thought about the grey-eyed girl she met. Ritsu decided that she could show her something cool—her fallen tooth(1). It did not occur to her 7 year old mind that most people would have found a fallen tooth to be disgusting. Later that night, she crawled out of her bed and searched the rubbish bin for the tooth. She rinsed it with running water from the tap and wrapped it in a handkerchief.

-xxxx-

She was alone. The whole world was leaving her, casting her away. There was no light, no warmth. She stood there, in the middle of nowhere, cold and afraid. The sky was black, indicating night, but void of stars and the moon. Suddenly, the ground under her feet cracks open, the jaws of a hungry predator, and she falls into the unending darkness.(2)

Mio wakes up from her nightmare, her grey eyes glistening with tears. Her thin chest pumps like a piston, her breathing ragged. It was that particular dream again—the one that made her cling to her mother for dear life, the one that made her weak against the dark. Mio knew she had many, many nightmares—most containing ghosts, barnacles, blood and other horrifying stuffs. But this dream was the scariest, she felt the loneliness gnawing into her bones, her desperation for company. She pulls her stuffed rabbit closer, using it as a defense. A glance to the digital clock on her bed showed the time to be 5 in the morning. Another 2 hours before her mother gets up and prepares breakfast. She resists the urge to run to her mother's room and snuggle into her bed. So Mio lays still in her own bed, listening to her own shallow breathing, hugging her rabbit tightly, and only gets out of bed when she sees the rays of sunlight shining through her window.

-xxxx-

"Good, Yuuki-san. Next?" the teacher signals the next student to rise. It was the second day of school, so she wanted to slowly break the ice by self introductions instead of hardcore studying right away. The next girl stands up and turns to face her classmates.

"Name's Tainaka Ritsu. I like to play drums and tease my brother, Satoshi. I love the color yellow because it is the color of the sun. I hate rainy days because Mom doesn't let me go outside. My mom's desserts are extremely delicious but my dad says they are too sweet. I…" the cheerful girl rambles on until she's stopped by her teacher.

"Right. That's enough, Tainaka-san. Who's next?"

One by one, students talked about themselves. Then it was Mio's turn. She stands up gingerly and doesn't look up. She starts after a few seconds of deep breath, "M..my name is Akiyama Mio. I...like music and my stuffed rabbit. Uh…I..uh.."

The teacher rescues her before she chokes on her own nervousness. Ritsu keeps her eyes on her, _Akiyama Mio…Beautiful name._

-xxxx-

The recess bell rings and students thank their teacher before rushing to the cafeteria. Ritsu uses this time to show the shy girl her fallen tooth. "Ne…You know, yesterday my tooth fell off!" She opens her mouth wide to prove it.

Colors drain from Mio's face as she thought about her last encounter with her own loose tooth. Oblivious to the girl's condition, Ritsu continues, "There was blood in my mouth and it smelled so weird, yuck! My dad had to use so many tissues to stop the bleeding. Here! I even brought the tooth!"

The raven-haired closes her eyes but the image of blood was still in her mind. After all, she was a kid with a vivid imagination. The sight of the broken tooth resting on the white handkerchief was enough to make her hyperventilate. Ritsu's lack of understanding of human behavior made her useless in these situations.

Mio's vision blurs and it feels like she's falling asleep. She could hear the girl's voice fade away into the distance. Then into the nothingness.

-xxxx-

It was the same dream. Mio wandered in the world, searching for any signs of life, any source of light. But none could be seen or heard. She was breaking down again. She gives up by standing still and waits for the darkness to swallow her from below. It does. The ground splits open and she braces herself for the fall back to reality. But instead of falling, she is pulled by a hand. The warm hand holding hers guides her, away from the hueless pit and back into the real world.

Ritsu watches as the grey eyes flicker to life, she is glad. The brown-haired girl was persistent when she said she wanted to wait for the raven-haired child to wake up, and it took more than a teacher's strict glare to wear down her obstinacy.

Mio wakes up for the second time that day. But this time, she's not alone. Her eyes meet with amber orbs, she remembers. Before she could start thinking about the tooth and blood, Ritsu tightens her grip on her hand, "Sensei told me you were afraid of icky things, I promise I won't scare you again, I swear!(3) And I'm very, very sorry…I thought it would be cool but I didn't know you were scared so I…Sorry."

This prevents Mio's mind from wandering, "…O-kay."

"So…uhm…can we be friends?" the smaller girl asks, hoping for a positive answer.

It takes a second for Mio to process that question. She smiles for the first time in school and nods timidly, "I'm Akiyama Mio."

A large grin forms on her face, "Tainaka Ritsu desu." She detects a small squeeze from the shy girl and decides to not let go unless she pulls away. Although there seems to be a hole in the girl's grin, Mio couldn't help but think it was perfect—a perfect smile. She feels somewhere inside her, an empty space is filled with the presence of this new friend she's gained.

Outside the infirmary, their teacher stands by the doorway. She gazes over the innocent young girls and longs for the child she was in the past.

-xxxx-

Later that night, Ritsu steals a blue permanent marker from her father's work table. She kneels on her bed and writes down, as neat as possible, the date of the day their lives intertwined with each others. It will act as a remembrance, there on the wall above her bed, a memory she'll keep with her through their inconceivable friendship. She lays down and tests the name, "A-ki-ya-ma Mio-san. Mio-chan. Mi-o."

* * *

(1) Warped sense of humor...I know.  
(2) The dream might be a little too pessimestic for a child.  
(3) That promise is meant to be broken~

Reviews are all appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Had this in my pendrive for a few days...Didn't really know whether it should posted, but whatever.

Enjoy~

* * *

_Days of our past,  
Makes up our present,  
Shapes our future,  
And connects them together._

**Age 9**

A cool breeze sweeps past the young girl, reminding her of the melancholy season that turns all greenery into shades of red, orange and yellow. September in Japan marks the transition from the humid summer—undoubtedly the best season for students—to the chilly winter. Though a saddening season autumn may be, it does not affect the little girl's mood. A child can always see the good of everything—that is the pure innocence of childhood everyone once experienced, but not able to carry it with them into adulthood.

Ritsu walks along the side street, her hands tucked in her pocket for warmth. Even with autumn's unpredictable weather, the weather on that particular Saturday was especially pleasing. Ritsu maneuvers around the neighborhood without really thinking. Despite having a mediocre sense of direction, she is able to reach Mio's house with minimal use of her mind, after all, the location of her house has been imprinted on Ritsu's heart since before.

-xxxx-

"Mio, is Ritsu-chan coming today?" Mrs. Akiyama inquires while applying light makeup onto her face.

Mio appears beside her mother, "I'm not sure. She didn't say."

She studies her mother's reflection in the mirror. The resemblance between mother and daughter are undeniable. Mio could easily pass as a younger version of her mother, with stormy grey eyes and lustrous dark hair. She sometimes wonders whether she really had a father(1), for she could not see any distinct trait that could belong to him. She seemed to have inherited all physical characteristics from her mother. But Mrs. Akiyama assured her that she had a father, an old photo—one that was taken a few days after her descend to earth—was given to her as proof. In that tear-stained photo, there was a man in a red sweater and khaki pants. His eyes were not fixed at the camera but Mio could see chocolate brown, warm and tender. In his strong arms, there she was, still a baby, sleeping soundly against his chest. Her mother had her arms around him and was smiling brightly. On the back of the photo, words were written. Her mother's handwriting, _Akiyama family. Ren, Misao, Mio._

A car accident. That was what killed her father. She can never understand why God decided to punish her that way, taking away her father before she even knew him. She knows her mother suffers too, and because of that, she wants to be the perfect daughter. The kind of daughter who doesn't make her mother repeat things twice, a daughter who she can be proud of.

Mrs. Akiyama smiles at her daughter, "Okay, I'll leave snacks in the kitchen. I have a feeling she'll come today." The young child who made her daughter faint had somehow became her best friend. At first, it was pretty worrisome. Knowing the child had once cause her daughter anxiety, then again, almost all people has that effect on Mio. But soon she sees the child's value. Tainaka Ritsu may love to tease her daughter, but usually she knows when to stop. Her presence also wards off Mio's loneliness, and that scores her a whole lot of brownie points. Her erratic behavior never ceases to amaze both her and Mio, it brings joyous laughter into their otherwise quiet house.

-xxxx-

Ritsu rings the door bell once, then twice, then thrice. Before she could repeat her action, the door swings open to reveal a very unimpressed Mio.

"You could've just rang it just once. I'm not deaf!" Mio gives her a glare.

An amused grin appears, "If you were, it wouldn't matter how many times I ring."

After letting out a frustrated sigh, Mio allows the girl to enter and shuts the door to prevent the warm air inside from escaping. The girl flops down on the couch in the living room, relaxing her legs from the 10 minutes walk. She looks over to her friend who was still standing.

"Mio, come on!"

She nods and goes over. She grabs the remote control from the table and switches on the television. They watch random cartoons and only stop when Ritsu yells out that she's bored. Apparently, she needs more than animated animals dancing around singing songs to keep her sated. They go to the kitchen to fetch the snacks. Another interesting fact about the cheeky brown-haired girl is that not only does she have a big forehead, she also has a big appetite. Mio watches as Ritsu attacks the snacks with god-like speed, she chuckles in amusement.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Mio questions as she clears the table of crumbs and crust.

"Huh…I don't know," she lays on the floor, unmoving, digestion taking place in her flat stomach.

After a moment of silence, the raven-haired girl speaks in a low voice, "Ne, Ritsu, can I ask you something?"

"Hm…Already did, Mio."

Mio sits down next to Ritsu, "What is it like? Having a father?" She knows in her heart that it is a stupid question, but she wants to know the answer, even if the answer is also stupid.

Amber eyes seem to understand her best friend's question. She gets up so that she and Mio are at the same level, well, almost the same level, due to her height. Then she makes an effort to explain, "It's like..um..having someone who picks you up when you fall. At least my dad is like that. But, he can be mean sometimes. Last week, he made me wash his car!"

The raven-hair girl's mood doesn't brighten. This makes Ritsu lose her confidence a little, but she doesn't give up. "It doesn't matter, Mio. You have your mom, and she's so cool and awesome! She's like 10 dads put together."

Mio doesn't really see it that way but she knows her mother loves her a lot, more than anyone in the world. She wipes away the moisture in her eyes. Ritsu resumes her persuasion, "And I'm sure your dad is in a better place, you know, in movies, they always say good people get to go to Heaven. Your dad is a good person, so he must be up there with the angels!"

A shaky nod. The raven-haired girl accepts her best friend's words.

-xxxx-

Mrs. Akiyama reaches her home at 5.30 in the evening. She opens the front door and hangs her coat. Walking towards the kitchen, she almost does not notice the two young girls on her living room floor. Tainaka Ritsu was sleeping with her arms open wide, hair messy, face rid of any trouble, while her own daughter curled by her best friend's side in deep slumber. Mrs. Akiyama smiles and utters softly, "I'm really glad you became friends."

* * *

(1) I'm sorry to have made Mio lose her father...I felt so bad when I wrote this.

Reviews...make me happy? *nods furiously*


	4. Chapter 4

Greetings, Mitsu fans~

From now on, my brain is kinda out of juice, so updates might come slow. Bear with me, kay? *shot in the head*

Enjoy.

* * *

_Days of our past,_  
_Makes up our present,_  
_Shapes out future,_  
_And connects them together._

**Age 11**

"Mio…I need help," Ritsu whines incessantly. Both her hands were occupied with the computer, so the phone was cramped between her left ear and shoulder. There was an earphone which was blasting music in her right.

_"What now? I'm kinda busy studying here."_

"Yes! That's the thing I need your help with, you know, um…studying…" the girl speaks, in truth she just wants to hang out with her uptight best friend. Bright colors were flashing on the computer screen, she was winning the game, only a little more before she would be crowned champion. A bead of sweat rolls down lazily on her chubby face.

_"Right… you always study 4 weeks before exams."_ A sarcastic tone, indeed.

Ritsu bites on her own lip to suppress her excitement, occupied with the game, she does not respond to her friend's sarcasm. Her fingers dance flawlessly on the keyboard, her feet tapping in sync with the beat. Large doses of adrenaline rushes into her veins. 98% Just a few more… Then without warning, disaster strikes, the computer screen suddenly turns black, the pulsing music stops unexpectedly. The girl stares at the dead computer screen—which seems to be mocking her with every passing second—her mouth agape.

On the other line of the phone, Mio waits for a reply. When she doesn't hear one, she worries, _"Oi! Ritsu, are you there?"_

The brunette bangs her head onto the computer table with such force the mouse jumps up. Her amber eyes go blank for a while, suggesting her brain is currently suffering from a major electrical breakdown that requires a few seconds of rebooting before enabling the girl to resume regular mental process. The phone falls from her ear and clatters on the floor.

Mio hears the bang and thinks it's just Ritsu doing a dramatic act to convince her to help. _"Ritsu, hey, that's not gonna work. Oi! Riiittsssuu!" _Mio hopes for a response, because her friend isn't the type to suddenly become silent, especially when she is begging for help.

A few seconds later, her brain is awake and functioning again, Ritsu rises from the 'dead'. The first thing she does with her newly-refreshed self is scream with rage. Her parents ignore the scream, knowing all too well about their daughter's antics.

Of course, Mio who isn't clear about the situation in the Tainaka residence doesn't know what the nature of that scream was. The pictures forming in her mind all involves her friend in a horrible, terrible, unpleasing situation, and too bad, they are nowhere near the ludicrous truth. She quickly slams down the phone, fearing whatever that had made Ritsu scream might get her through the phone. Thoughts of her best friend continues to torment her mind, the scream let out by Ritsu replayed itself over and over like a broken record, Mio abandons all rationale. In her heart, she is certain that if she were in Ritsu's place, the thickheaded girl would come to her rescue. Being a child with fleeting courage, Mio acts quickly, for she knows if she were to wait for an extra second, she would never reconsider the action she was about to take right then. She leaves the pile of books on her study table and grabs the house key. Once the front door is locked, she runs for it.

-xxxx-

After recovering from her uncontrolled anger at her computer, the brunette moves sluggishly towards the mistreated phone. She picks it up and places it next to her ear, "H-ello, M-io."

_Tut..tut..tut…_

"Huh, guess she hung up," she says to herself. She dials her best friend's number, no one answered. A disappointing sigh, she redials but to no avail and decides to call again later. A well-aimed jump lands her onto her bed, she lays there comfortably, her hands behind her head.

-xxxx-

The routine walk to the Tainaka's takes about 10 minutes from the raven-haired girl's house, a run shortens that time by 3 minutes. However, that day, Mio manages to reach the girl's house in an amazing 5 minutes and 14 seconds, not that anyone was counting. She was driven by her concerns for a certain brown-haired girl. That girl may have a head harder than rock, no mannerism whatsoever, and an attention span of a 3 year old, but that doesn't stop Mio from enjoying her company.

Sweat was seeping through her pores, she never was good in sports—that department was left for Ritsu. She takes a deep breath before contemplating on what to do next. She surveys the house first. Mr. Tainaka's car was there, parked at the usual spot since it was a Saturday. The windows downstairs were open wide, it wasn't suspicious because she knows Mrs. Tainaka did not like the house stuffy. She looks up and sees the window to Ritsu's room shut tight, that was normal too—Ritsu wouldn't bother with it unless it was summer and she needed a breeze. There seems to be no sign of force entry, Mio relaxes a bit.

She takes a few cautious steps towards the house, then, instead of walking up to the front door, she goes through the side. She ends up at the back of the house, where the laundry was usually done. An old tree was planted at the corner of their backyard, the one she and Ritsu climbed when they were children. She spots a shadow and quickly retreats to prevent from being seen. Her previous bravery shrivels and she fears for her own safety. With her back against the wall, she finds a reasonable explanation, Maybe it's just Mrs. Tainaka. But before she could make another careful observation, a hand grabs her shoulder. She screams.

-xxxx-

Tainaka Ritsu was jolted awake when she hears a piercing scream—a scream all too familiar to the ears of Ritsu. Mio… She jumps up from her bed, not caring whether the high-pitched scream was real or not, and runs down the stairs two steps at a time. She passes the living room and opens the front door. After a quick scan, she doesn't see any trace of Mio. There was nothing out of the ordinary, the sun was still shining, the sky was blue, it was a normal day. She goes back into the house to find her parents, thinking perhaps they heard something.

She walks into the kitchen yelling, "Mom! Dad! Did you hear a scream just now?"

-xxxx-

The raven-haired girl was trying to calm her nerves and stop the tears. Mr. and Mrs. Tainaka were soothing her like the fragile child she was. She could hear Mrs. Tainaka's apologies, and she wants to clarify that it wasn't her fault but her throat wouldn't allow her to speak. She was spooked, and her defense mechanism kicked in, a scream followed by heavy drops of tears. It was a useless defense when really in danger.

Ritsu walks in, carrying her loud voice with her. When she sees Mio, tears running down her face, eyes puffy, her forehead creases. A crying Mio was not an ideal company, Ritsu learned that after a few 'accidental' experiments. Her gaze turns to her not-so-innocent parents and she points an accusing finger at them, "You! You made her cry!"

Most fathers or mothers would never tolerate the finger-pointing and conclusion-jumping that were displayed by the brunette, but being Tainaka Ritsu's parents means accepting their daughter's numerous vices and scarce virtues. Her mother explains briefly, "I found Mio-chan while I was doing the laundry. I guess I accidently scared her. You didn't tell me Mio-chan was coming over!"

"I ran here when I heard the scream," Tainaka Hiro says with both his hands up, claiming his innocence as a bystander.

She doesn't answer her mother because she herself has no idea why Mio's presence is in her house. Ritsu shoos them away. Before stepping out of the kitchen, her father gives her a Cheshire grin and whispers, "Go comfort your princess." That earns a sharp glare from the protective brunette.

Assured that both her parents were minding their own business, she approaches the quiet Mio. Her tears had stopped during the Tainakas' conversation, but she doesn't make an attempt to talk, afraid her voice might crack.

Ritsu takes hold of Mio's left hand, "Come on. My room." Silently, they went upstairs.

-xxxx-

Once in the safe confines of her room, with the door closed, she sits Mio down on her bed. She drags the computer chair and sits down, her arms hugging the back of the chair. "You okay now?"

The raven-haired girl nods and manages to form a small smile.

That timid but honest smile makes the edges of Ritsu's mouth rise. She feels fine, that's good. "So? What should we do?"

Mio wants to answer but there's something nagging her in the back of her mind, something she had to ask the brunette. Her train of thought was interrupted.

"Oh. Wait, why did you come to my house? Not that I mind, but you'd call most of the time."

Right, Ritsu screamed. Grey eyes study the small frame in front of her, up down left right. The girl wasn't injured, or in trouble. Mio could not have heard wrong, she was certain of it.

"I heard a scream through the phone," her voice regained, but the volume was toned down slightly.

Ritsu is confused. She tries to think back, Talking to Mio…Gaming…Computer killed my game…Enraged scream... Shortly, the pieces connect and she nods slowly. She is starting to get the reason why Mio ran to her house.

"So…you hung up?"

A nod. Silence.

Ritsu coughs awkwardly, "And you ran here? All by yourself even though you thought I was in danger?"

Ah, the beautiful pink sets in. Mio feels herself blush but it doesn't matter, after all, it was just Ritsu with her. "Y-es. I…thought something happened…and I couldn't just let you…die or something…" she says while gazing at the floor, embarrassment fills her face.

Amber eyes shine with glee. Ritsu, with all good intentions, misreads Mio's concerns, "Aww…Mio loves me!"

"What! No…I..no, Ritsu, don't say that so randomly!" Mio yells, her voice no longer restrained.

The girl feigns hurt, just like always. She knows Mio would cave in, because she has done this particular act before, and success was guaranteed, most of the time. "…Mio, you don't love me? Why? Am I not good enough?" she puts on her most guileless look—the one that with luck, saved her from the almighty wrath of her mother.

Mio looks into those amber orbs that were luring her in even though she wasn't suppose to. A skillfully mastered pout was on Ritsu's face, and Mio feels her heart melt a little. Cuteness has always been Mio's weak point, despite her usual cold exterior. Therefore, resistance was futile.

She keeps her head down, hands clenched in fists, trying to hold onto whatever shred of self-confidence she has left. The raven-haired girl's voice subsides again, "No…I…I...likeRitsuverymuch."

The result was immediate, Ritsu abandons her role as the desperate girl-who-needs-confirmation-from-her-partner and bounces back full force. "Now, that wasn't so hard," she laughs childishly—an action she's going to regret later.

-xxxx-

"Was that necessary?" Ritsu wails while massaging the bump on her head.

Her attacker doesn't respond. The girl was sitting at the corner of Ritsu's bed, hugging her knees close to her chest as if afraid. Mio purses her lips, wondering whether she should apologize for hitting her best friend. Her mom once told her to never resort to violence unless in danger. But, this occurred on the spur of the moment, if Ritsu had any sense to keep quiet and not make fun of her, this wouldn't have happen. Then again, sensibility was never a part of Ritsu.

The throbbing pain recedes fairly quickly and Ritsu climbs up her own bed. She crawls towards her best friend, every movement she made caused the bed to creak a little. She crosses her legs and sits quietly beside Mio. Softly, she nudges her with her shoulder, "I like you too," hoping this declaration of fondness(love) would grant her forgiveness from Mio.

Eyes grey like slate widen in surprise. A mellow blush creeps up to her face, and at the same time, the muscles at both ends of her mouth flexes. Her body relaxes and she allows herself to stretch her legs, achieving a more comfortable position. The brunette notes the positive change and congratulates herself for a mission well done. She lies back down on the bed. That day was spent in silence—the truth behind Ritsu's scream was never revealed, for she predicts if Mio were to find out, there will be a second, much larger bump on her head—as they listen to each others' steady breathing, maintaining the quietness despite the brown-haired girl's hyperactivity.

* * *

I hope this is satisfying? Every chapter of my work are pretty much just fluff all the way, hope you guys don't get bored.

Review, pleassee~


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